When Two Worlds Become One
by Dragonfly-Moonlight
Summary: ONESHOT, AU. One never knew what Ryuichi wanted until they were presented with it.


1"Shuuuuiiichiiii!"

Tohma cringed at the sound of Ryuichi's high-pitched wail. He couldn't call it a cry. When it came to Ryuichi, crying usually involved crocodile tears and the biggest pout in all of Tokyo. Wailing just got everyone's attention, especially when the singer wanted something immediately. Sometimes it was a bit of an inconvenience, like now (he and Shuichi had a few things to discuss so they'd been walking towards Tohma's office), but then Ryuichi didn't always care. As long as he got what he wanted.

Sure enough, it had worked. The genki young man cringed at the sound of his name, but quickly hid it as he turned around and smiled at the singer. Tohma turned as well to face his bandmate.

"Yes, Ryuichi?" Shuichi inquired patiently.

Surprise crossed the singer's face and, for a moment, he could only stand there and blink. Tohma found it to be quite comical. Not many could boast at silencing the Great Ryuichi Sakuma yet Shuichi Shindou could. Tohma knew that his lover wouldn't, of course – Shuichi had an extremely gentle personality for the most part – but it never ceased to amaze him when such an occurrence happened. They were very rare indeed and never lasted for more than a few seconds. Ryuichi liked it when people could surprise him.

True to form, Ryuichi overcame his shock quickly and immediately latched on his favourite person – next to Tohma, Noriko, and Kumagoro, naturally – and began to drag the younger man down the hall. The singer was grinning like a loon.

"Come see!" he exclaimed. "You have to see! It's so pretty, so very beautiful! Shuichi will like it! I know he will!"

The two were already halfway down the hall, in the opposite direction Shuichi and Tohma had been walking in. The younger man barely kept to his feet as Nittle Grasper's vocalist led him away. Mildly curious about what Ryuichi wanted to show his lover and knowing he simply couldn't leave the two alone for very long, Tohma decided to follow them.

As he hurried to catch up with them, he started to speculate as to what the vocalist could have wanted from Shuichi. There was always singing. Shuichi had been caught singing along with a Nittle Grasper song one day by the vocalist and since then Ryuichi had been beyond gung-ho about including the younger man. It didn't matter how much Shuichi protested, Ryuichi kept insisting and often found new ways to get what he wanted.

'Of course, he could have drawn something and wants Shuichi to see it. He does love it when he gets praise for that.'

However, when it came to Ryuichi, Tohma could never truly say. Despite their long friendship, Ryuichi had remained a bit of an enigma to Tohma, and was even more so when it came to Shuichi. The blonde believed his friend harbored deep feelings for Shuichi, but just didn't know how to deal with them. Exactly how deep those feelings ran, Tohma couldn't say. It could have been brotherly, it could have been more. He only knew that Ryuichi had become fiercely protective of Shuichi recently, and Tohma suspected he knew the reasoning for it.

'Kitazawa-san . . .'

"Hurry, Tohma! You need to see it, too! It's so pretty, so very pretty!" Ryuichi called out, interrupting Tohma's thoughts. He smiled and hurried to catch up with his lover and his best friend, feeling rather secure about both. Ryuichi knew about his relationship with Shuichi, had figured it almost immediately, but wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it. Shuichi was among the select few that meant the world to the singer, and he would do anything to ensure the younger man's happiness.

"I'm coming," he replied. Ryuichi smiled back then quickly pulled Shuichi into another room. His lover had a smile on his face as he disappeared from sight, and Tohma chuckled. Ryuichi's enthusiasm was a contagion all its own, but, unlike others, it was a good thing when it spread. If infected by the right person (namely Shuichi), it became an unbeatable force. His friend's passion, along with Tohma and Noriko's hard work, kept Nittle Grasper at the top of the Japanese music charts. Tohma also believed that Shuichi had something to do with it as well, he and his artwork. To the blonde, there wasn't anyone else qualified to design Nittle Grasper's album covers or to capture the true essence of the band in photos. Shuichi had been there almost from the beginning, watching the struggles they had to go through, and endured the challenges with them. He had never wavered in his faith for them and ultimately came out a stronger person in the end. Tohma would be eternally grateful for the artist's presence in his life. Always and forever.

As he neared the room Ryuichi had pulled his lover into, Tohma heard the sounds of an accoustic guitar playing softly, and he paused to listen. The melody had a sad note to it despite cheerful overtones. It was very similar to pieces he composed when hardly anyone else was around, and he knew of only one other person who played like that.

"Shuichi," he murmured.

Quietly, he stepped into the room and saw Shuichi sitting on a chair in the middle, his eyes closed and Ryuichi at his feet. A white Taylor acoustic with green vines and violet-coloured roses painted on the body and neck sat in the artist's lap, Shuichi's fingers strumming lightly over the strings. For a moment, Tohma's world stood still as his lover played a simple tune that spoke of great love and loss. Soon, it was accompanied by two voices, one taking the lead and the other giving support.

Their voices blended beautifully, Ryuichi and Shuichi, had always done so, and they had the ability to make anyone feel whatever they wanted when they sang together. If Tohma and Noriko weren't providing backing vocals for Ryuichi, it was Shuichi. It had somehow worked that way, though Shuichi kept refusing to be made an official member of the band. He was devoted to his artwork and they respected that.

As soon as it had started, the song ended and Ryuichi was on his feet once more. The singer had a huge grin on his face as he pointed at Shuichi and the guitar.

"See, Shuichi? I told you it was pretty! And it's just for you!"


End file.
